Talking frogs and silent scientists: A simple survival guide to speaking with the media

Thanks again to our guest speaker for 2010, Jim Handman, executive producer of CBC’s Quirks and Quarks. For those of you who didn’t take notes or were unable to attend, here are some key points from an informative and entertaining presentation:

1. Always use layman’s terms. Imagine describing your work to someone who has no experience in your field at all, or even in science.

2. Don’t take over the interview. Allow the interviewer to do their job, and answer the question asked.

3. Show enthusiasm. If you are genuinely excited, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Describe well, using word pictures. Relate your research to things people are already familiar with, but remember people are interested in the weird and odd, not the normal.

5. It is perfectly acceptable to ask to check quotes before your story is published, but not the story.

6. Be honest.

Organized by Kes Morton